U.S. sanctions Ecuador network over alleged cocaine shipments

Reporting and context

El País México reports that the U.S. Treasury sanctioned eight people and seven Ecuador-based companies it links to Los Choneros and Los Lobos, two Ecuadorian criminal organizations designated by Washington as foreign terrorist organizations. The Treasury also identified 10 Ecuadorian fishing vessels as blocked property. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the network allegedly used fishing companies as fronts to facilitate cocaine shipments from South America to Mexico, where the drugs were then smuggled onward toward the United States.

The Treasury said some operators in the network coordinated the transport of 30 to 40 tons of cocaine a month from Ecuador toward Central America and Mexico. The agency said the logistics operation was based on Ecuador’s coast, with boats operating from Manta in Manabí and supplying fuel, food, and medical services to fast boats traveling north through the eastern Pacific. Washington also alleged that the vessels helped monitor law-enforcement activity, and said Mexican organizations including the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG operated later in the route; these details are presented as U.S. government claims.

The sanctions block the targeted assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. persons from conducting transactions with the designated parties. El País México also described the measure as part of a broader dispute involving Los Choneros and Los Lobos, which emerged after the 2020 killing of Los Choneros leader Jorge Luis Zambrano, known as “Rasquiña.” The report noted that Washington designated both groups as foreign terrorist organizations in September 2025 and that Ecuador ended that year with 9,268 homicides, a national record according to the source.